Marie Schofield, affectionately known as the ring leader of Team Kerrits, popped open a bottle of champagne aboard AXL after her team won the USEA/The Chronicle of the Horse Western Adult Team Challenge training division at the Event At Rebecca Farm, July 21-22 in Kalispell, Mont.

Teammate Therese Russell, of Brier, Wash., and her Oldenburg gelding, Dante, also earned the individual ATC training blue ribbon to accentuate her team’s blue sash.

It was a repeat performance for Russell and Dante after placing first in last year’s training division at Rebecca Farm as well. But a slight difference made this year’s win a little sweeter.

Who would’ve guessed that only six months ago, Dante underwent emergency colic surgery?

“He scared the bejeebers out of me!” Russell exclaimed. “I was under the impression that it was minor and he would be fine without an operation. The vet told me that 90 percent of these cases can be fixed with medicine and special treatment, but when I got him to the clinic, they told me that without the surgery, he would have died.”

Perhaps the close call stoked the 9-year-old gelding’s spirits. “He’s actually been in the ribbons ever since his surgery,” said Russell.
But beyond the satisfaction of winning, the camaraderie and friendship she took home outweighed any ribbons or trophies.

Schofield’s AXL, Rebecca Runkle’s CJ’s Legacy, and Aimee Witherspoon’s Worth The Wait all share an extraordinary parallel which only seemed to strengthen the team’s bond.

AXL, said Schofield, was a reject horse. “Nobody seemed to want him, and they called him the psycho horse,” said Schofield, of Lyle, Wash.

When she first saw the now stunning gray, 17.1-hand Thoroughbred five years ago, “he came out with a chain over his nose and his head straight up in the air and weighed about 400 pounds less than he does today.”

After a little time off and a lot of training and attention, the gelding, now 15, remembered how to be a horse again. “People say to me, ‘Is that AXL? I remember when trainers used to beat him up,'” said Schofield. “But now he’s just learned to relax and be happy, and he’s giving it back to me.”

Likewise, when Worth The Wait debuted in the hunter ring with somewhat less than desirable results in the eyes of his previous owners, they simply gave him away after a series of bucking incidents.

Luckily for Worth The Wait, Witherspoon, of Ridgefield, Wash., picked him up. “He was not a naughty horse,” she said. “He just suffered from back pain.”

As a veterinarian, Witherspoon also practices equine acupuncture. After sympathetic training and acupuncture treatment, the 7-year-old Holsteiner-Thoroughbred’s back pain disappeared, and the pair’s bond flourished as Worth The Wait finally found his niche as an event horse.

Like Worth The Wait, CJ’s Legacy also endured back pain before Runkle stepped into the picture. After nearly losing the 13-year-old Thoroughbred in March of 2005, she assured, “He will be with me until the day I die.”

Before recovering, CJ’s condition prevented him from enjoying eventing so Runkle, also of Ridgefield, Wash., reluctantly decided to sell him.

“The people who bought him had a trainer who talked them into believing he was worthless because of his back problem. They told me if I didn’t take him back, they would put him down,” she said.

So Runkle considered it a Christmas present to take him back last December and continued to work patiently in hopes of healing his pain. After a remarkable turn around, he’s been jumping ever since. “We’ll hopefully qualify for a one-star in November,” she said.

“It’s a huge honor for both of us to get this recognition when somebody was willing to just trash him. His back problem doesn’t even show anymore, and I honestly believe it was just a matter of good training,” Runkle said.

The four members of Team Kerrits trained with John Camlin, of Caber Farm in Portland, Ore., for this event. “He really made the difference,” said Witherspoon. “He did the course walk with us for cross-country and show jumping and told us all the keys. We wouldn’t have done so well without him.”

The Kerrits Hook-Up
Team Kerrits also credited much of their win to Kerri Kent, owner and founder of Kerrits clothing. Kent’s sponsorship stems back to the ATC’s inception in 1990, and Schofield has enjoyed Kerrits clothing since the company’s infancy.

“We’re the originals,” said Schofield of Team Kerrit. “Kerri first sponsored a team for me in 1990.”

Kent founded Kerrits in 1986 in Hood River, Ore., where outdoor sports are an important way of life. She created comfortable active wear for women starting with bathing suits, which Schofield first discovered when she moved to the area.

“When I moved to Hood River, I needed a bathing suit for windsurfing. Everyone in town said, ‘You gotta go to Kerrits, because she makes the best swimwear,’ ” Schofield recalled.

Buried in the back of the store, she found a rack of bright, equestrian-themed, houndstooth-colored bathing suits that would later become a Kerrits signature. Kent said, “I couldn’t get dressage riders to wear them, and hunter/jumpers wouldn’t either.” Schofield interjected: “But I was an eventer!”

After the popularity of Kent’s bathing suits began to soar among windsurfing enthusiasts and soon equestrians, she expanded her designs to include a line of equestrian apparel that followed the roots of her swimsuits. The new active wear utilized fabrics other than the traditional wool and cotton, of which most equestrian clothing was made at the time.

Now, 20 years later, Kent’s business continues to grow, and Kerrits continues to sponsor ATC teams. “Team Kerrits definitely spoiled us,” said Russell. “We got all new clothing: new coats, new shirts, new pants, new gloves and were totally outfitted with Kerrits gear.”

Next year, Kerrits will sponsor Rebecca Farm’s Who I Am Makes A Difference Award, a sportsmanship honor presented to an adult rider program member who demonstrates outstanding teamwork and support throughout the event.

Familiar Friends And New Camaraderie
Rebecca Broussard’s own Team Rebecca also utilized some valuable training time with Camlin to keep the preliminary ATC title at Rebecca Farm. Sarah Haff won the individual blue ribbon aboard her own Sight Unseen while Cathy Rasch competed Broussard’s Huson, Dawn Bunge brought her own O’Reilly II, and Cindy Marvin rode her own My Sedona.

“We do team events together as much as possible,” said Rasch, of Whitefish, Mont.

“It’s all about the camaraderie,” added Marvin, who resides locally in Kalispell, Mont.

The team also competed last November at the Galway Downs CCI* (Calif.), once again under the skilled training of Camlin.

“We all wanted to qualify for that one-star, and when we told John this goal he kind of looked at us like, ‘Yeah right’. But he got us qualified, and we got there and finished second as a team,” said Marvin.

Broussard added: “They’re all such wonderful ladies. They also volunteer here and help out a lot with everything. I couldn’t do it without them.”

The novice ATC team from Area VI inched out the championship by a mere .8-point advantage over the Area VII team, and they did it with only three members. With six novice entries from Area VI, instead of creating one large team, riders opted for two teams of fewer members.

The winning team was composed of Steve Pugh riding My Harley, Richard Muller aboard Kanga, and Andrea Mason, who won the individual novice ATC division with her 14-year-old Appendix Quarter Horse, Little Brown Bear.

Rebecca Farm marked this pair’s fifth event together. “He’s been phenomenal. Since we started running him, he’s never gotten below third,” Mason said of Little Brown Bear. “He definitely takes care of me.”

Neither Mason nor her teammates had previous experience on an adult team, but they all agreed that the friendship and group dynamics make the team challenge and enjoyable. Pugh and Muller’s friendship dates back 10 years, while Mason trains with Pugh’s wife, Dayna Lynd-Pugh, but only just met Muller the weekend of the event.

“These guys were here before and after I rode, and we cheered each other on the whole way,” said Mason.

“We had our own barn cheering us as well as other barns cheering us on, which you don’t normally get,” Pugh added.

Pugh, of Tres Pino, Calif., usually competes only once a year with his 7-year-old draft. “My daughter [Kelly Pugh] does the two-star, and my wife rides preliminary so I do it just to ride with them,” he said.

Muller picked up 18-year-old Kanga’s reins again only a month and a half before the team challenge after 31�2 years out of the saddle. Muller competed Kanga five years ago at preliminary level, but for the past four, the Trakehner-Thoroughbred mix has enjoyed a leisurely career as a school horse at Muller’s wife’s barn.

“My wife [Mogie Beardan-Muller] asked me if I wanted to ride at Rebecca Farm, and I found out about the Adult Team Challenge and decided to do it,” said Muller of Martinez, Calif. “Now I want to get another horse!”